


Three Times a Fool

by QuillofThoughts (fluffybunnyremi)



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Drunken Flirting, Gen, Jim builds an empire, Minor Sebastian Moran/Jim Moriarty, if you squint and look at it the right way, someone got in over his head
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-09
Updated: 2014-04-09
Packaged: 2018-01-18 19:25:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1439962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffybunnyremi/pseuds/QuillofThoughts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He just wanted to get a good job at a law firm. Not get sucked into a criminal empire where he was being bossed around by an insane Irishman.<br/>Or: A guy gets caught in Jim's web, tries to get out, and gets pulled in once more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Third time

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a class, which is why some of the style is a bit odd, and isn't focused on Jim at all. Instead, it's looking at Jim through the OC's eyes as well as Jim being referred to as James. Hopefully you like it. 3 chapters in all. Not long.

When Rob visited James after severing any sort of contact between them years ago, he knew there was something terribly wrong while still being absolutely perfect.

“Robert. What a _lovely_ surprise to see you after such a long time,” I said.

“James. It certainly has been. I was hoping never to come here again,” he said.

“ _Aww…_ That hurts my feelings. Though I must say, it isn’t very surprising. _No_ one likes me.”

Robert sighed, looking up at the ceiling. “That’s because you’re a mobster. Of course no one likes you.”

“I suppose that’s fair enough…Why are you here, Rob? I know I didn’t talk to you.”

“My…car died. Unfortunately.”

“… _So_? Am I supposed to care about that? You should have taken better care of it, especially after the lengths you went to stay away from me.”

“I did.”

“Oh, so it’s that nice Ferrari you bought the last time you saw me?”

“…yes…”

“Oh, well isn’t that just a righteous _shame_! What happened to your toy?”

“My tires were slashed. And the drive shaft broken.”

“Some common thug got to your toy? You should have been _watching_ it better…Get it fixed then, and go away.”

“I can’t just ‘get it fixed’!”

“Then your tires weren’t simply slashed, were they, Robbie?”

“…they’re technically slashed.”

“Now Robbie, if we were working off of technicalities, you’d be dead from overdue payments on that little debt of yours...How bad of a crash were you in this morning?”

“The car got totaled.”

“Oh, so you _are_ in a bind. Looking to sell your little baby?”

“Shut up, James. Just help me out here.”

“I was merely making small talk, Robbie. Do you really want to hurt me even more when I’m feeling _very_ generous to you?”

“You never ‘merely’ make small talk.”

“And you never see me without wanting something. Now, do you want a loan, or don’t you?”

“I…don’t know.”

“Now, now, Robbie, that won’t do at _all_.” Robbie couldn’t believe the sight of that small smirk on James’ face, and he flicked his eyes up to the wood-paneled ceiling for a moment as he calculated just how much money he needed.

“I just need a small one.”

“A small one? For replacing your little car?”

“Compared to the other ones.”

Jim’s eyes lit up as a crocodile smile crept onto his face. “Oh, _well_ then. It _that’s_ the case. Name your price.”

“I need a quarter.”

“That’s small?”

“I lost my job, James, and my car.”

“Like I said, that’s small? Your ledger’s looking _very_ red lately.”

“I just need it. My wife can’t know.”

“Fine. Consider it done. I expect payment within three months, as per usual. Now get out of here before I change my mind.”


	2. The First Time

The first time Robbie met James, it was in a seedy pub just outside of Dublin. Robert was there to escape his wife and her oppressive in-laws practically ripping their hair out at the fact that Robert had turned down a prestigious job at a small law firm in their town to try and pursue a larger career in Dublin. Apparently they had thought he was simply setting her up for life as a penniless pauper without any children, which was rather disappointing. He knew he’d be able to make it as a big-name lawyer, yet it was just a matter of getting onto that first step before he’d sail directly to the top.

Now, however, Robert sat at the bar, sipping at a pint rather halfheartedly, not thinking much about it except as an escape. However, before long James, in a bright green shirt and tight jeans, sat down next to him, acting far too drunk and far too gay for Robert’s liking and he shifted, frowning as that didn’t deter the stranger, finally standing up to walk away from him.

James’s hand snatched out, grabbing his arm rather tightly, and he looked up Robert, eyes far too clear to belong to any drunk’s. Robert made a face, frowning before he sat back down next to him, gulping down more of his drink. “What do you want?” he asked, looking over at the slim man with a very suspicious look on his face.

James grinned, relaxing slightly as he sipped at the clear drink residing in his glass. “You’re having family issues. I can offer up some help, if you’d like,” he said, half-smirking as he looked over his glass at the man, knees brushing the other’s as he leaned close to him. Robert’s chest tightened as he remembered similar words crooned from him from back alleyways on dark nights, lending him the unpleasant feeling that this was him either being hit on by a prostitute.

“I’m not having any sorts of issues. Now, please, excuse me. My wife’s expecting me back,” he said as he stood up, confident that it would put off any prostitute, and he laid a crumpled bill onto the sticky bar counter before he stood up, sighing roughly as James’ legs trapped him between the barstool and counter. “Let go of me. I won’t hesitate to get you arrested.”

James laughed, a piercing, somewhat hysterical laugh more fitting for a mental ward patient than a drunk in an Irish pub, and he shook his head. “You want to listen to me. And would the police really arrest yet another drunk in Ireland. You _poor_ man. You’d be more fitting for London than Ireland,” he said before standing up, glass set forgotten on the counter, and he ran a hand along Robert’s suit, hands moving to grip the lapels tightly. “You want to listen to me, Robert O’Malley. Give me five minutes, and I’ll be sure to get you whatever you want.”

Robert stared at him, frowning slightly before he sat back down on the barstool he had been keeping warm, sipping at his beer as he looked over at the other man who grinned and sat down as well. Chills ran down his back as the smile looked remarkably dead, and he took a carefully measured breath, glancing away from him. “Unless you can get me a job in a prestigious law firm within the month, I don’t think you could help me.”

“That’s simple. Here, or London?”

“What?”

“Here. Or. London?”

Robert frowned at himself, finally looking back at the man, who had returned to his glass and started humming some classical music under his breath, and he shrugged. “Whichever pays more. London, I suppose. Gets me away from the in-laws,” he said, not expecting anything to come from it. A slow smile crawled onto James’ face, and he looked over at the lawyer before nodding.

“Simple enough, Robert. I’ll be seeing you. You’ll have your job within the week,” he said before pressing a soft kiss against Robert’s lips before standing up, seeming rather shaky on his feet. “See you later, lovely,” he added before staggering away, clear voice singing some random drinking song before he disappeared into the crowd.


	3. The Second Time

Rob had been summoned out of the blue, causing the man to be on edge and flighty. Despite planning on seeing the criminal after a month of attempting to sever contact with him, he hadn’t expected this. All of the criminal’s employees knew that if they were summoned to the main office, something extremely bad was going to happen, whether they were going to be violently killed or promoted. Robert currently didn’t know which would be worse for him. If he was killed, then his family would lose his weighty check they received every month that allowed for the life in London. If he was promoted…well, if he was promoted, then his family would be in constant danger by the unstable criminal he worked for and the other criminals that he interacted with.

“You asked for me to come, sir?” Rob asked as his eyes glazed around the room before he finally trained his eyes on the criminal himself. There was only a minute’s pause as the smaller man leaned his head back up from where it was leaning on the back of the leather armchair before it rested there once more as he motioned towards the chair in front of him.

“Please, sit down. I won’t have you darkening my doorway for long,” he said.

Robert frowned before sitting down, carefully watching both James and the other man in the room, despite the fact that both looked rather bored with this whole exchange. “What’s this about, sir? I thought that I had done all of your jobs well enough.”

“You want to leave my employment.”

Richard paled slightly as he heard that before quickly composing himself and he shook his head slightly. “Of course not, sir. Didn’t you inform me that you’d kill me if I tried to leave?” he asked softly. He distinctly remembered that conversation after several rather sickening appointments with the other man. James’ lips twitched in a quick smirk, and he nodded once.

“Of course it is. Which is why you’ve changed all of your contact information without telling me. So that my men couldn’t send you your assignments anymore. And so it seems as though you’re doing everything in your power to sever our contract without doing it officially.”

“I’m sorry it appears that way, sir. I never meant it to,” Robert replied, more as a formality than anything else. Of course he had meant to do that, but James couldn’t know that if Robert still wished to remain alive.

“Sign that contract for me.”

“What?”

“Sign. The. Contract. You know how much I _despise_ repeating myself,” James said, voice low and quiet as he finally looked over at Robert, the lawyer not at all surprised to see the cold and dead stare penetrate him, and he looked down at the paperwork, glancing over it for show before he signed it. Even if he was signing his soul off to James, there was no other way to go about this, so he simply signed the paper before handing it back to the criminal.

“What did I just sign, sir?” he asked, not looking back up at the criminal, voice barely audible as he wondered if getting involved with James in the first place had been worth all of the troubles that he had gone through after this. James shrugged, looking over it as well before slipping it into a drawer of the desk.

“Your gag contract. Say anything, and your daughter gets shot. Try to go to the police, it’s your wife. Mention anything about this job in general, or that you even were in this building, and it’s both your wife and son. I don’t think I’ll have an issue with that. Normally you’d just end up dying, but I expect I’ll need you again.”

“Sir?”

“You’re free to leave. You won’t be contacted, as you so expressly wished after going to such lengths to attempt to hide from me. Congratulations, you successfully severed contact with me. Now get. Out,” he said, not looking up at Robert at that point, leaving the lawyer to watch him type away at his computer before he nodded slightly, standing up and walking out, not looking back at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you caught it, this chapter is the only one with Sebby-kins in it.   
> And I feel so sad that in 11 weeks of writing short stories for a class, that was as much time as he got...


End file.
